Bear-JP Morgan: Do You Really Want Government Dictating Takeout Prices?

Silicon Alley Insider:

Read between the lines of the Bear Stearns-JP Morgan story and it seems clear that the parties who insisted on the original $2 deal price were not JP Morgan (JPM) executives but Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Dimon is scurrying away from the $2 price as fast as he can. The Fed has denied that it insisted on the $2 price, but Treasury (and Hank Paulson) have not. Andrew Ross Sorkin reports:

There's been a lot of debate about the price that JPMorgan originally offered for Bear -- a price that even Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, suggested on Monday was unfairly low... So where did the guidance for that price come from? You guessed it. Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, and his teammate, Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secretary, were calling the audibles in the boardroom. Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve of New York, also was calling some last-minute plays.

Read the whole story: Silicon Alley Insider

Comments

[Portnoy]

I think Government should dictate EVERYTHING in our lives. That way we are ALL the same. Equal. Utopia at its best.

[gsuescum]

Sounds like the Fed had friends at JPMorgan and wanted to hand them a sweet deal at the taxpayers' expense

[dadw5boys]

Anyone notice the Bear and Stearns Executives did not care how much it sold for??

They had already cashed out with stock options bonuses when the firm was about to implode!!
The Executives had to know the company was headed for disaster in December but they still took HUGE STOCK OPTION BONUESES.

Where is the S E C???????
WHY ARE THEY NOT ENFORCING THE INSIDER TRADING LAWS ??????

[joebaggadonuts]

Hmmm. This does not provide confidence in this transaction nor does it make one feel strongly about the integrity of the process. Also, it does not give us any answers.